Stevens and Brantley were among four aspiring chefs enrolled in the local technical school who were hired to work in Whole Foods’ prepared foods department. The quartet followed up on a spring visit to the school by Whole Foods representatives seeking Savannahians with culinary skills.

“We sought these young men and women out because we like to be a part of the community from the start,” said Rachel Jones, the Savannah store’s “team leader,” equivalent to a general manager. “And our experience is culinary students make great employees.”

Whole Foods needed every hand available Tuesday. The store’s much anticipated opening attracted curious locals from throughout the region. The store parking lot was full by 8 a.m., and the hot and muggy morning failed to thin the crowd.

The store staged a grand opening ceremony — a bread-breaking rather than a ribbon-cutting — just before 9 a.m., with Mayor Edna Jackson and aldermen John Hall and Van Johnson in attendance.

Omar Gaye, Whole Foods’ president for the Southeast region, welcomed shoppers to the company’s 356th store.

“Savannah is the most welcoming town in the country,” Gaye said. “It is our hope that we have translated the very essence of Savannah in the store.”

Whole Foods paid homage to the community in several ways, from the mural featuring several Savannah landmarks on the side of the building to architectural touches and artwork on the interior. The store is stocked with many local products, from local craft beers and java brews to Byrd Cookies and Savannah Bee Co. body creams.

The company’s collaboration with Savannah Tech is arguably the most tangible connection, though. In addition to hiring the culinary arts students, Whole Foods tasked several of the school’s historic preservation students with designing and constructing dining area tables with reclaimed wood from a local bowling alley.

Whole Foods was “completely open to the design,” Savannah Tech student Meagan Hodge said. “”The way they have gone about getting the location and involving themselves in the community has been amazing.”

The culinary arts students hired on at Whole Foods credited the chair of the school’s culinary arts department, Chef Jean Venderville, for his guidance and foresight in collaborating with Whole Foods.

“This proves that he truly cares about his students and wants them to succeed,” one of the students, Stevens, said of Venderville. “I am not very far along in the culinary program but already feel it has and will help me in my job at Whole Foods.”